Running Out of Time-Prepare the soil Before you plant a seed

We are always running out of time. Just ask anyone and you will get a stock reply, I have no time. A student is running out of time to make up his studies, missed classes or study gaps. The house wife is running out of time to complete her domestic chores before picking up her child from the school, or before the return of her dear hubby. The working people are running out of time for reaching their offices, meeting the deadlines, and then catching up with the family while attending to the other chores on way.

Everyone I come across complains that he is busy, has no time, or says that he will try to steal some time from his busy routine. I wish I could stretch the day beyond 24 hours, some work alcoholics say. "Rush hour", "last minute deals", "hurry up", "200 news in one go", "back to back", and what not. So much crumbled up and stuffed in life. All this running around is for the fulfillment of our physical needs.

There is food for the body, food for thought, but what about food for the soul? The learning years of life are limited, the earning years of life too are limited, but what about the earnings through karma.

A sanctified mind in a sanctified body will always yearn for accomplishing good karmas.

You have a guru. You have a guru mantra. You have been baptized. The guru's pictures adore the walls of the house; the holy string is tied in the neck or on the hand. The mantra is inscribed on the frame. The prime possession is not the beez mantra alone. How will it bear fruit until the soil is not prepared, unless it is well irrigated, unless the manure has been properly cast? The true mixture of all this will only help the plant take root, and then wait for the right season when it grows into a plant and start bearing fruits.

Yatha vriksha bhi beez se, jal, raz, ritu, sanyog,

paakar vikse kram se jyon matra se yog.

(As the seed slowly grows into a tree with the required mixture and proportions of water, soil and the right seasons, similarly, the mantra (beez mantra) jaap takes us to higher levels of spiritualism and ultimately leads us to the union with Almighty, God.)